Porous surfaces, such as those of carpets, clothing, automobile seats, and certain metal and metal composites, and other hard surfaces such as tile, vinyl, and plastics can be marked with paint or ink in the form of graffiti. Permanent marker inks, and printers inks, enamel and acrylics, and highlighters can be used. Note that this composition will not harm Lexan® or Plexiglass®.
The above recitation exemplifies a broad range of materials which need to be cleaned from a broad range of deposits and stains. In response to this need, an equally wide range of cleaning compositions already exists in the market.
Generally speaking, commercial compositions are limited both in the range of their effectiveness, and also as to how efficient they really are for their intended purpose. If one intends to remove a graffito, he is likely to find a nearly-equal number of formulations to buy for the purpose. In addition, some of the stains and deposits are usually only partially removed after application of market-available cleaners, and with risk to the material being cleaned. On the consumer market today, for example, there is no known composition which will remove marking pen dye from a white tablecloth. The present invention will.
Furthermore, many existing compositions are objectionable from an environmental standpoint. This composition is water-based, and is environmentally acceptable. The composition is available in a 3% Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) configuration and will perform surface cleaning.
It is an object of this invention to provide a water-based environmentally acceptable, biodegradable cleaning composition which can be used to remove graffiti. Any residue of these compositions which might remain on the surface, or in the fabric underlying it, will not adversely affect the user or the surface to which it was applied. It has proved to be a considerable surprise to observe how many types of really difficult stains and deposits these compositions can remove, with little or no remaining evidence that there ever had been a stain or a deposit, or that the composition ever had been applied, all without damage to the material being cleaned.